


The Inquisitor and the Rat

by TheWhimsicalBard



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Action/Adventure, Dragon Age: Inquisition Spoilers, Gen, Self-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-04
Updated: 2017-04-04
Packaged: 2018-10-14 20:13:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10543666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWhimsicalBard/pseuds/TheWhimsicalBard
Summary: The Dragon Age: Inquisition story focusing on the Inquisitor and an odd companion that too was from Ostwick.





	1. The Black Rat

Two swordswomen, a dwarf, and an apostate entered a tavern located in a remote area of northern Ferelden. A few days after the forming of the Inquisition, a note was sent to the Herald herself. Someone under the title “The Black Rat” sent word out that they wanted an audience with this Herald of Andraste.   
“Herald, are you sure this isn’t a trap? We’re meeting with a stranger whom we have no background of and we don’t even know their name other than a title.” Cassandra had her hand on the hilt of her blade the entire trip. This encounter seemed too suspicious for her to only be someone willing to join the Inquisition. She had the lingering feeling that this was an assassin sent to kill the only one who could seal The Breach.  
The Herald turned and faced the swordswoman.   
“I have a feeling that this is someone who genuinely wants to help our cause. Besides, if anything does happen I have faith that you will be able to cut them down with ease.” She gave Cassandra a reassuring smile.  
“I do hope your optimism doesn’t end up being your downfall.”   
“The Herald’s fought demons, survived a blast, and crawled out of the Fade. I think she can take on a simple assassin.” Varric chimed in.  
“That may it be true, doesn’t mean she can survive every encounter. We must show caution.” Cassandra responded to the dwarf.  
“Let’s discuss my recklessness later, we have a meeting.” The Herald could already tell when arguments were sprouting in the short span of knowing Cassandra and Varric. She learnt how to disarm them quickly before they could erupt. Leading an organization that she didn’t even ask for was already taxing enough on the nerves without having the bickering constantly. The human scanned the establishment for any characters that stood out to her. She wasn’t given a description of who to look for and she had no good guess as to what a “Black Rat” would look like.   
A loud cheer sounded from the corner of the tavern and caught the Herald’s attention. There was a small gathering of people surrounding a table. A chopping sound could be heard from within the circle.   
“Maybe that’s the contact we’re looking for?” Varric suggested.  
“It wouldn’t hurt to investigate.” The Herald without hesitating walked through the small crowd to see what was going on.   
In the center of the attention was a woman, knife in hand, stabbing the spaces in between her fingers with utmost speed while the audience sang a tune. She was dressed in a linen midriff shirt, with a black, sleeveless, jacket worn over it. A mask covered the lower half of her face.   
“And, reverse!” The performer threw her dagger in the air. She pulled her right hand off the table and caught the blade. Her left hand laid flat as the blade continued to stab the wooden surface.   
The spectators’ enthusiasm grew.   
“And if I hit my fingers….” The stranger sang along.  
“Then my hand will start to bleed!” The crowd sang in unison.  
The audience cheered when she neared the end of the song. She flipped her knife in the air again, catching it by the hilt and sheathing it.   
“Thank you, thank you, you’ve all been a wonderful audience!” She got up from her seat and onto the table bowing.   
The Herald eyed her strange look. Mask, jacket, a cut top, a leather skirt with chainmail layered over it, and knee high boots. She seemed to be an odd fellow.   
The performer looked down at the Herald in front of her. She smiled and knelt down into a squat.   
“You got my letter, yea? From the Black Rat!”  
The Herald looked at the stranger in the eye.  
“You’re the Black Rat?”  
“That’s my name, well, not really. It was a title I was given. The actual name is Quinn.”  
“How does someone get a title like that?”  
“It’s a long story. It’s a name rich folk gave me cause I was from the poorer areas of Ostwick. Y’know, cause people think only rats exist in poor areas; and the black was because I was covered in dirt all the time.”  
“You’re from Ostwick?”  
“Yeah I am, and don’t think I don’t know who you are Lady Trevelyan. I don’t think it’s coincidence someone from your house managed to become named Herald of Andraste.”  
“What do you mean? Like this was fate or destiny?”  
“Well yea. Someone from your house is always destined to be a big, nasty templar, or a smiley face for the Chantry right? So it would make sense, at least to me, that you end up in a role like this. Maybe not as intense, but something similar. Anyways, the whole world’s going to shit and you’ve been picked to stop it; whether by a bunch of people or some divine power itself and I wanna help!”  
Cassandra stepped forward.  
“You want to help? We need forces, not tricks and songs.”  
“I don’t know, her talent could lift spirits when shit starts getting rough.” Varric responded.  
“Or perhaps she could entertain the breach until it’s satisfied and closes itself.” Solas chuckled to himself.  
“Hey hey hey. Five finger fillet is not the pinnacle of my talents.”  
The Herald looked at her companions then back at Quinn. “What is it you could offer us?”  
“Well I can be a real dexterous agent. I know how to pick locks, fight, and I can sneak in and out of places without getting caught. I may be one person but I can promise you I’m worth it.”  
Cassandra leaned into the Herald’s ear. “I don’t know about this. She doesn’t look as capable as she says. We could be just sending a kid to her doom.”  
“She looks like she can handle herself, we can put her through a scouting mission or something light and see how she fares.” The Herald whispered back.  
“Whatever happens to her is on you.”  
“I see you two whispering, have you come to a conclusion?” Quinn tilted her head in wonder.  
“We need all the help we can get, welcome aboard Quinn.” The Herald extended her hand and Quinn leaned in to grab it.   
“I’m looking forward to showing you what I can do.” She gave a toothy grin. She turned around and kicked up her knapsack from underneath the table.   
“It seems she was already prepared for you to accept her aid.” Solas commented.   
“Can’t waste time packing when there’s a world that needs saving!” Quinn clutched the strap of her knapsack excitedly.


	2. Moving In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quinn gets settled in Haven with the help of Varric. Cassandra and the Herald speak of their next move.

Cassandra looked at Quinn who was wearing a thick, navy, blanket draped over her shoulders.  
“Couldn’t you just wear something warm other than half a shirt and a small overcoat. The blanket seems unnecessary.”  
Quinn turned her head as the party kept walking through the Frostback Mountains towards Haven.  
“I like the way I dress. Besides, with less on, there’s less chance of me getting caught on something or grabbed by someone. It’s functional in hotter areas and all I need is this piece of cloth to keep me warm.”  
The Inquisitor faced the girl.   
“What about if you get caught in a battle in a cold scenario.”  
“I have no problems with throwing it off if it becomes a burden. I’ll just pick it up and put it back on after the fighting’s done.”   
“And what if it’s wet or covered in snow? Wouldn’t it be useless?” Solas asked.  
“It’s custom-tailored to be resistant to water on the inside. I shall be fine.”  
Varric looked up and down the blanket wrapped around her.  
“Have you ever tried to fight with that on?”  
“I did a few times. I how to disarm people using this and to throw them off guard, but it gets annoying paying to fix the damages so I try not to use it that much.”  
Cassandra turned her focus to the Herald.   
“First Sera and now her? Herald you do know how to attract eccentric company.   
The Herald of Andraste smiled. “With what I’ve seen so far, I think Quinn will fit in perfectly.”  
“What do you mean by that?”  
“Look at us, look at what the Inquisition holds. An apostate, a seeker, a storytelling business man, an obnoxious elf that loves pranks, a Qunari leading a band of strange mercenaries, an Orlesian mage, a Grey Warden, an ex-Templar, an ambassador, and a spymaster. We don’t exactly have a set standard of who we allow in.”  
“It shouldn’t matter what your origin is, as long as you’re useful to the cause, yeah?” Quinn directed to the Herald.  
“In a perfect world yes, but unfortunately when a respected organization like this once was is viewed as being operated by a band of misfits it hurts our credibility.”  
Cassandra spoke up. “It is already bad enough that the Chantry refuses to help us and doesn’t like that you’re still here.”  
“It’s something they’re going to have to get used to, I’m not going anywhere until that Breach is closed.”

The five neared the gates of Haven.   
Quinn looked up and around the surrounding areas as the group walked through.  
“So this is where the Inquisition operates. It’s a nice looking place, in my mind I figured it’d look more fortress like.”  
“We didn’t have much resource nor time to prepare for this.” Cassandra scoffed.  
“No no, I understand that this was all out of nowhere. I just overestimated what I heard about you all.”  
“It is a fair assumption to make. Perhaps this will grow into your vision in due time.” The Herald stepped in.   
“It would be nice to watch this place grow from a village to a functional fortress.” Quinn remarked  
“Don’t count on it.” Cassandra rolled her eyes at her comment.  
“Varric, why don’t you show Quinn where she can stay. We have to discuss our next move.” The Herald gestured Cassandra to follow her to the war room.  
“Sure thing, c’mon sly.”  
The masked young woman followed the dwarf up to the tents.  
“Is this where you sleep?”  
“For the most part, until the snow starts to annoy me. I go to the tavern after that.”  
“I think I’ll be fine as long as I have this on me.”  
“A blanket that always stays dry wouldn’t be a bad idea? Where’d you get that?”  
“It was a gift from a friend, I couldn’t tell you a store that would sell something like this if I wanted to. It’s a shame, this is a life saver.”  
“I bet it is, travel anywhere you want without getting cold.”  
“Or too hot, it does provide excellent shading as long as you have something to hold it up.”  
“Huh, I never seen an adventurer get so much out of something so simple.”  
“I like to think anything is only as valuable to you as the different uses you can find for it.”  
“Anything else you can find multipurpose with?” Varric threw another log into the campfire.  
“Let’s take knives for starters. They make excellent tricks like you saw back at the tavern, you can use them for climbing, skinning, self defense, prying, you can even find out the time of day if you angle it in the dirt and look at its shadow.”  
“I think Cassandra underestimated you after all,” He grinned. “Where did you learn to do all this?”  
“Half of my skills I picked up from other strangers I came across, other half came from creativity and observation.”  
“You are an interesting character. Got any stories to share?”  
“If you got time I got tales.” Quinn sat down on the ground. She knew she was going to be here a while.  
“I got time.” Varric sat down with her.  
“Great! Just don’t go spreading some of this around.”  
“Your secrets are safe with me.”  
“I have a feeling I can believe that.” She smiled warmly behind the mask.   
“Well there’s this shit I stirred in Ostwick….”

The Herald and Cassandra eye’d the map laid on the war table.  
“It’s settled then,” The Herald spoke. “We go to Therinfal Redoubt. We enlist the help of the Templars.”   
“Who shall be accompanying you on this mission?”   
“I think a seeker would be of use for this.”   
“If you think that would be best, what about others? We can’t have the two of us.”  
“We’re not taking Solas, I don’t like the idea of having a mage being surrounded by templars. I’m open for recommendations, who do you think we should bring?”  
“Blackwall may help, Sera would cause too much trouble, and I don’t think a qunari with us would let the Templars breathe easily.”  
“What about Varric?”  
“His silver tongue will either jeopardize us or save us.”  
“Then we take Varric and Quinn with us.”  
Cassandra looked up at the Herald disgruntled.  
“You’re taking the girl with you, you can’t be serious?”  
“We agreed a light mission, we’re only going to talk.”  
“We don’t need an oddity ruining this for us. I don’t even know why you want to bring her.”  
“She said she can go in and out of places without being seen. I’ll be honest, I don’t trust the templars too much and I have her as insurance if anything goes wrong.”  
“You trust a random girl who can do knife tricks over the Templar Order.”  
“Common folk tend to have my heart than organizations do.”  
“I sure hope you know what you are doing Herald, because I do not.”

“We’re running for our lives over my friend frying a chicken, there’s angry farmers chasing us, he transforms into a bear and darts off in another direction leaving me with the angry people. I ran into the nearest tavern I could see, disappeared into a random group of people and I offered them the cooked meal that was in my hands the entire time in exchange for hiding me from the next few to enter the establishment.”   
Varric chuckled at the ending of the masked girl’s story.  
“So whatever happened to that apostate friend of yours?”  
Quinn shrugged at him.   
“Hell if I know, I stayed in that tavern until you guys found me. He had every chance to come back and find me.”  
Varric laughed at her answer. Cassandra walked up to the two sitting by the campfire.  
“Varric, Quinn. You two as well as I will be accompanying the Herald to Therinfal Redoubt. We’re leaving tomorrow morning.”  
Quinn gave her a salute. “Aye, aye!”  
Varric smiled at Quinn’s response.  
“Will do seeker.”  
Cassandra shook her head at the two and walked off.  
Quinn turned back at Varric.  
“I think she likes me.”  
He chuckled. “What makes you think that?”  
“She hasn’t told me to shut up yet, that’s a start.”  
“It won’t be long before she eventually does.”


End file.
